Hello All,

Sorry for not posting sooner we have just been so busy. Busy is a good thing!

The summer season will officially be here this weekend with the Memorial Day weekend and it is also time to think about the care and feeding of your fine oriental rugs. In the winter we worry about things like snow and salt on the fibers - but in the summer we need to worry about a whole new set of problems.

If your rug is near a family room door to the outside pool area please remember to rinse your feet before you come in. You could bring in some chlorine from the pool that will bleach out areas of your rug. Bleach and wool do not get along! The bleach will also cause the wool fibers to disintegrate as wool is a protein and bleach eats protein.

Remember to vacuum often to remove the dry particulate dirt and always bring in your rug for a good old fashioned scrubbing.

If you have any questions please call me at 513-251-2351 or email me at orientalrugman@hotmail.com.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!

Lets talk about good old fashioned soap and water today. So many people think that you can not clean a rug with soap and water. They are afraid of the wool shrinking - similar to a what happens to a sweater when washed in the machine. Rugs are a whole different ball game compared to clothing.

Lets start with the anatomy of a wool fiber. The wool fiber has scales on it that are similar to fish scales. In wool clothing, if the wool is agitated then all of the scales become tangled and the clothing begins to shrink. This is called felting. Felt fabric is made of wool that has been rubbed together so that the scales become entangled and the felt is produced.

Oriental Rugs are gently cleaned flat with a mild detergent that is made for the Oriental Rug. It is applied and the rug is then scrubbed. This process will not felt the rug and thus it does not shrink. Soap is actually good for the rug! It allows the dirt particles to become suspended above the soap so that they are easily rinsed away. Soap is sometimes like a double edge sword - you can either use not enough or too much. Not enough and the dirt is not removed and too much and there will be a residue that will dull the look of the rug. That is why it is important to have a cleaning professional evaluate your rug and make the decisions on how and what to clean it with.

The soap and dirt is thoroughly rinsed out of the rug - which is the most important part of the cleaning procedure.

Soap and water is not "rocket science" but there is a "soap science" that we apply to be sure that you are getting the cleanest possible rug.

If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 513-251-2351 or email me at orientalrugman@hotmail.com.

Today I want to talk about a protecting coating for the rug. There are many people out there who think that protectants really do not do the trick but from a professional cleaners stand point - get everything in your home coated in a protectant! I have had customers call me to thank me for applying the protection for their rugs. They were able to first hand see the effects of blotting a spill up rather than seeing it soak in the rug and leaving a large stain. You must act quickly with any spill and begin to BLOT it up almost immediately. DO NOT RUB or you will get to live with the stain forever as well as a "fuzzy" looking area on your rug. With a protecting coating of product you have a much better chance of getting the liquid up.

The process is very simple - when you bring your rug in for cleaning we will apply the product after is is washed and still in a damp state. After an evening in the dry room with temperatures at one-hundred twenty degrees the product has cured and it is ready for every day use. The product will not change your rug in anyway - the colors will be the same, you will not be able to feel it on the fibers and you will not be able to see it. But what you will see is when you have a spill the liquid will "bead up" on the surface. There are some exceptions, i.e. a whole pot a steaming coffee will almost immediately penetrate the surface as will large quantities of any liquid. But for the every day ins and outs of life I can only recommend a protective coating on your fine home furnishings.

If you have any questions please feel free to call me at 513-251-2351 or email me at orientalrugman@hotmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

I recently talked about wet rugs but a rather interesting one came in today that I wanted to share with you.

This rug is an 8 x 10 hand made Oriental Rug that has a vibrant blue background with a floral design in reds, browns and greens. It is a lovely piece except for the mildew problem that it has. It was in a basement family room which is very seldom used and while getting ready to entertain the owner found the rug in deplorable state. Over half of the rug has disintegrated from exposure to water over a prolonged time. There is nothing that we can do with this rug except to discard it.

It is really ashamed because it was a lovely rug and it is sad whenever one has to be thrown away. I again want to remind you to check areas of your home that are not used often - for water damage. All it takes is one good storm or frozen gutter or downspout and you can have water infiltration.

If you rug has water on it please call us or bring it in as soon as possible so that we can clean and dry the rug to prevent further damage. if you have any questions please call me at 513-251-2351 or email me at orientalrugman@hotmail.com.

Flokoti Rugs

If you have been to Greece you know what a Flokoti Rug is. They are usually all one color (natural) have longer fibers and come in many different qualities. A Flokoti looks good in almost any decorating scheme and some how seems to be the favorite rug of the family pet.

Cleaning them is somewhat tricky but it can be done. You must, like any other rug, vacuum them often. This is hard because of the length of the fibers – but it must be done. This type of rug will catch and hold the dirt deep down if you do not vacuum it regularly. We wet clean the Flokoti Rugs – scrub and rinse them completely before they are sent to the dry room.

If your pet has urinated on the rug we are able to do an enzyme bath to get the urine and odor out. Be aware that often the stains will not come out.

If you have any questions about Flokoti Rugs please call me at 513-251-2351 or email me at orientalrugman@hotmail.com.

Antique Hook Rugs

I wanted to tell you about a very good friend and also a client of mine who has many very old hand hooked rugs that were made by her Great-Grandmother. I am as old as the hills and she is my age so that will tell you about how old these rugs are.

When her GG-Mother made them she took old clothing that the family had out grown and cut them into small strips and then turned each under and sewed by hand the wool cloth. She then hand “hooked” the rugs to form the rugs using a piece of burlap as the base of the rug. She did several nautical motif rugs, the family dog and also a very lovely little cat on a rug.

Through the years these little “gems” were passed down from family to family finally coming to my friend. We clean these rugs very gently as they have become fragile through the years.
So if you have an old rug that needs to be cleaned please bring it in so that we can do an evaluation of the rug and see if we are able to clean it.

Please call me with any questions at 513-251-2351 email me at orientalrugman@hotmail.com.

Hello, If you are having a problem with an Oriental Rug or just have a question about rugs regarding cleaning, repairs, or general care and feeding please leave a comment below and I will answer them on the blog. Have a great day! Ben